Won’t contest LS or Assembly polls: Outgoing Madhya Pradesh Congress chief

Bhopal: Apparently peeved over his removal from the position, outgoing Madhya Pradesh Congress chief Arun Yadav on Thursday said he would not contest the upcoming Lok Sabha or Assembly elections, but would continue to work for the party.

Former Union minister Kamal Nath on Thursday replaced Yadav as the new president of Madhya Pradesh Congress. The Assembly polls are due in the state later this year.

“I will not contest the Lok Sabha or Vidhan Sabha elections and will work for the party organisation,” Yadav told reporters.

Yadav, who became the state Congress chief in January 2014, had served as an MP from 2007 to 2009 and from 2009 to 2014. He had also served as the Union minister of state, agriculture and food processing industries in the erstwhile Congress-led UPA government.

Yadav welcomed the appointments of Nath and Jyotiraditya Scindia, who has been named as the chairman of the Congress’ state election committee.

“Whatever success the Congress achieved during my tenure was due to the hard work of the party workers. I own up to the failures,” he said.

Yadav said he would meet Congress president Rahul Gandhi in a couple of days.

“The party president will decide on my future responsibilities and I will work accordingly,” he added.

Besides Nath and Scindia, the Congress has also appointed Bala Bachhan, Ramnivas Rawat, Jitu Patwari and Surender Chaudhary as four working presidents of its Madhya Pradesh unit.

The appointments come months before the state Assembly polls. The Congress is seeking to wrest power from the BJP in Madhya Pradesh.

According to Congress insiders, the appointments of Nath and Scindia are being seen as a balancing act in the faction-ridden party in the state.